A Quieter Life
by Yosei Ranbu
Summary: "You can't keep pulling crap like that, Yoshikage. Killing is wrong," Josuke admonishes. Kira tilts his head, confusion spread across his young face. "Didn't you say you killed the older me?" he asks. For a ten-year-old, he has excellent deadpan delivery. "Sh-Shut up!" Josuke yells, jabbing a finger. "Don't try to argue semantics, you damn brat!"


Kira Yoshikage hovels across a street, blood spilling from his lips and from a hole in his shoulder.

He is in pain. He is in tremendous pain. Three of his ribs are cracked, he has multiple puncture wounds from shrapnel, and he has burns from where he stood too close to his own explosions.

He is in pain, but he is alive, and that is victory in and of itself.

He does not know whence or where Bites the Dust has taken him. He spots a magazine stand and staggers over to it, careful to first wipe the blood away from his mouth and make himself look presentable. He interacts with the vendor using a polite and calm demeanor, and manages to purchase a newspaper without incident. He checks the date, and he is nearly struck by panic, causing him to sprint into a back alley before he creates an unsightly disturbance.

January 22nd, 1969. Little more than a week before his third birthday.

Kira involuntarily steps backward, his index finger flying up to his mouth as he works to piece together what has happened. His mind moves as frantically as his teeth do on his fingernail.

He had been cornered. Cornered like he had never been before. In spite of fate itself being his ally, Kira Yoshikage had nearly lost to Higashikata Josuke. If not for Bites the Dust, he would be dead.

Killer Queen had obeyed its master's desire to erase others' knowledge of his quiet life, and thus had brought him to a time when none knew of his existence. Kira suddenly smiles gleefully. Even if in a roundabout way, Killer Queen has eliminated the man pursuing Kira. Josuke no longer needs to be erased, because Josuke has yet to even _exist_.

Like this, he could live however he wanted. No Stand users to oppose him. No police force capable of combating him. He begins to laugh. Morioh is his oyster.

Never mind that he has left that idyllic life in the Kawajiri household behind. Never mind that he will probably never see Shinobu again. That had all been a means to an end. Nothing more.

"Nothing more," Kira repeats definitively and aloud. " _This_ is what I've always wanted. There is no one left to hound me. And how many years will it be before someone appears to do so? Even Kujo Jotaro has yet to be brought into this world. Hahahaha... Now that I think about it, I'm newly single. And Higashikata Tomoko is available... I can kill two birds with one stone! By making her my partner, I'll prevent that loathesome bastard Josuke from ever being born!"

"Guess again, you son of a bitch."

Kira's body tenses up. There's no way. There's no way that the voice that just came from behind him belongs to whom he thinks it does. Trembling, he ever so slowly looks over his shoulder.

He sees a torn school uniform. An imposing figure, burned and riddled with debris. Eyes hard as diamond. And that ridiculous pompadour.

"Higashikata Josuke!" Kira screams. "Why are you here?! How did you follow me?! And _how are you alive_?!"

Josuke glowers at him, gaze radiating utter hatred. "Hey, Kira. Did you see what happened to the arrow? The arrow that we took from Otoishi Akira?"

A tremor runs down Kira's spine. "No... Don't tell me. You bastard, you couldn't have...!"

Josuke tightens his fists. "Let me show you something, Kira: the Stand that will put an end to your miserable parasitic life, Crazy Diamond Requiem!"

They're too close. Kira cannot use Sheer Heart Attack at this range, there is no one close-by enough whom he can prime with Bites the Dust, and Stray Cat is dead. His only option is to turn Josuke himself into a bomb. He sizes up his foe warily, desperately searching for the perfect avenue of attack.

Josuke is eerily composed. "You were wondering how I followed you into the past, right, Kira?" he asks as he scratches his chin. He doesn't look at all as if he is about to engage in a life-or-death fight. "Honestly, I don't really get it myself." His eyes sheen. "I guess Crazy Diamond Requiem must have wanted to kick your ass so badly it chased you all the way here."

"You're babbling nonsense!" Kira spits. "But it doesn't matter! No matter what fluke it was that allowed you to step outside of Bites the Dust's rewind, there will be no such miracle this time! _Killer Queen!_ " he screams as he summons his Stand.

"Crazy Diamond could put things back together. But Crazy Diamond Requiem only knows how to take things apart," Josuke explains quietly as a Stand sharp as a diamond that shimmers like glass springs forth.

The exchange ends in an instant. After a quick trading of blows, Killer Queen grazes Crazy Diamond Requiem's arm with its right hand. Kira immediately leaps backward.

"You fool!" Kira bellows with delight. "You became overconfident because you had acquired some new ability! But now Killer Queen has touched Crazy Diamond! Your very own Stand has become a bomb! This is the end! Fate will always favor me, Kira Yoshikage! _DIE, JOSUKE!_ "

Josuke doesn't seem the least bit concerned.

Killer Queen clicks its right thumb, pressing the trigger.

And instead of Crazy Diamond Requiem and Higashikata Josuke exploding, Killer Queen simply disintegrates.

Kira stares numbly ahead. He doesn't understand what is happening, and his fingernails are tingling. He tries to call Killer Queen, but nothing happens. "Wh-What is this...?! Where is Killer Queen?! What's going on?!"

Josuke points a finger at him. "Killer Queen's entire existence has been erased. Anything struck by Crazy Diamond Requiem's fists is broken down into nothingness. The very fact that you are a Stand user has been nullified, and the matter of you turning my Stand into a bomb has been negated."

Kira takes a step back, his ring finger going to his mouth.

"Killer Queen is now just a memory. You can no longer turn things into bombs, you can no longer release Sheer Heart Attack, and you can no longer plant Bites the Dust. You've been backed into a dead-end, Kira. And now you're going to die like the rat you are." Josuke suddenly smirks. "Well, actually, I suppose that might be an insult to rats."

Kira is gnawing frantically, blood streaming down his wrist.

Josuke takes a step forward. "You're going to pay, Kira. I'm going to make you regret every single life you've taken."

Kira is biting through his flesh now, but he doesn't notice. There has to be a way out, a way to escape from this nightmare.

The hatred in Josuke's tone matches the fury in his eyes. "Would you like to die the way Okuyasu did?"

Crazy Diamond swipes a chunk out of Kira's right side, its fist shearing the flesh straight off of his body. The murderer spits up blood, staggering. "S-Stop...!" he wheezes.

"Or perhaps like Koichi?" Josuke snarls.

His Stand's fist drives itself through Kira's gut, protruding through his back. Blood splatters on the pavement.

Kira's eyes dance erratically, unable to focus on anything. "Wh-Why is this happening?!" he screams. "I just want to live a peaceful, plant-like life! If it hadn't been for you goddamn bastards...!"

Josuke sneers, his anger shining. "I've got it. I'll end you the way Jotaro-san would've." Crazy Diamond Requiem's fingers curl into fists.

Kira's face twitches as he recalls his first encounter with Kujo Jotaro. "W-Wait..."

" _DORARARARARARARARARA!_ "

Kira's bones shatter. His blood sprays forth.

" _RARARARARARARARARARA!_ "

His body crumples like tissues, the agony piercing his mind like a million burrowing arrows.

" _RARARARARARARARARA **RA**!_ "

With a final, savage blow punctuating the barrage, Kira is sent flying into a wall. He slides out of the crater this creates, then collapses into a heap. He stares sightlessly to the side as Crazy Diamond Requiem's ability finally begins to take effect. Kira's body starts to fade, and he only has moments to choke out his last words.

"I-I... just wanted to live... my own way. I just wanted... to continue on as Kawajiri Kosaku..."

His eyes gloss over, and Kira Yoshikage's quiet life ends in silence.

* * *

Josuke holds vigil as the last of Kira's body disintegrates. He says nothing for some moments, then bends down and pick up the newspaper the killer discarded.

"...I see," he says numbly. He had been too caught up in chasing Kira to register his predicament. He looks up at the sky. "Does that mean everyone's still alive? ...Er, well, I guess it would be more like, they're _going_ to be alive..."

He stoops to a crouch. He needs to think, before the adrenaline wears off and he comes crashing down.

He has no way to return to his previous time. Even if he did, it might not be best to do so; returning might simply rewrite the deaths of his friends back into reality.

Josuke is stranded, and there's no one he can rely on. He is now a stranger to his family, and his friends don't even exist yet. He has no one he can turn toward. Tears well up in the corners of his eyes, but he quickly rubs them out and shakes his head vigorously.

"No, get a hold of yourself. This is for the best. No one else has to die this way, so just deal with it."

Josuke considers his options. He has no money and no connections. His father, who has both and does not yet have a son, is on another continent. He realizes with some discontent that he'll have to settle down to a boring life in Morioh under an assumed name. He can't use his own, after all; it will eventually be laid claim to by another.

How long will he be able to endure such a boring isolation? It will be so many years before Kujo Jotaro comes to this sleepy town.

Josuke suddenly quirks his head. Will Morioh actually remain a sleepy little town? If everything has been rewound, then won't things play out in the same motions once the clock starts moving again?

He tilts his head. What if he nudges the hands just a little bit? What if he preemptively deals with Angello and saves his grandfather? What if he aids his father in destroying an immortal vampire? What if he stops Kira's reign of terror before it even begins?

Josuke springs to his feet, spurred by newfound purpose. He knows exactly where he needs to go.

* * *

It doesn't take Josuke long to find him. After all, the Kira household is naturally right where it was, or rather, will be. He watches from afar as Kira Yoshihiro leads along an exuberant young boy. The child has an innocent face, and bright eyes. Josuke has a hard time believing that this is the person who will grow into his mortal nemesis.

Kira Yoshikage is not even three years old. Not yet a man. Not yet a Stand user. Not yet a murderer.

Josuke could end him now. There would be nothing to stop him. No Atom Heart Father. No Stray Cat. No Bites the Dust.

"Dammit," he curses. He doesn't like the idea. He's not exactly in the business of brutally killing children, after all. This boy has committed no crime. But he can't just ignore Kira either. Innocent lives will be lost if he does.

Josuke scratches his chin as he looks up into the sky, lost on what to do. He hates Kira Yoshikage with all of his heart, but this kid hasn't become said Kira yet. Is there any reason to hate _him_ , then?

Josuke's focus hones in on his pompadour. An idea strikes him, and he grins brightly.

A young man with a pompadour changed his life. Maybe a young man with a pompadour could also change Kira's.


End file.
